


The Calm After The Storm

by marvel_ruined_my_life



Category: Marvel
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Loki - Freeform, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Thor - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-07 06:18:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18867457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvel_ruined_my_life/pseuds/marvel_ruined_my_life
Summary: Loki yet again used the tesseract to escape the confines of another system of government that is so naive as to believe they can control him, and in a stroke of luck, some may call destiny, unintentionally ends up in the guardians’ spaceship, years after Thor’s banishment, and years after New York. But exactly how far had he been taken? Well, you’ll have to read to find out.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Don't at all mind the minor plot convenience placed in here for me to make this work. Enjoy my latest, lovelies.

He knew there was no way Thor or anyone from S.H.I.E.L.D. would find him, he was in some kind of rogue spaceship assuredly _very_ far from the Avengers tower. It was advanced, but could _definitely_ use a clean up. There were scattered food cans and beer and alcohol bottles with alien symbols on them laying around and stacked in corners. He never understood messy people. Even Thor, after living in the same space with Loki on Asgard, still had the worst tendency to make a mess out of his quarters. Whoever in gods’ name ran this ship was just as messy as his brother. Finally, the links connecting his handcuffs had broken, and he'd be able to hold the tesseract somewhere on him that _wasn't_ in his hands, grossly out in the open for thieves or just nosy space-dwellers to see. He was towards the nose of the ship, and looked around him, guarded. _That’s strange…_ No one was there. Still wary, he turned his back to the controls, in search of a map of some sort. _Ah-ha!_ A small touch screen lit up near the gear shift. He was _somewhere_ within the nine realms, but something was... off, to say the least.

 

_Where… where is Asgard?_

 

Something felt _horribly_ wrong. He didn't overstep himself though, despite the rising unsettling knot he felt in his gut. Loki tried exiting the map, when the screen blacked out, and green text slowly appeared in the center, showing obscure numbers, months, the day and whatnot, followed by a year.

 

“2023…. _What?”_

 

There have been very little times that Loki was truly confused, stumped even. But how on earth he had managed to be sent over a decade forward in time was truly beyond his grasp.

 

Unable to even process what just went through his head, he heard a hushed voice nearing towards him, and he quickly retreated behind one of the seats.

 

•

 

For a very long time the pain Thor felt was harbored, even after chopping off Thanos’ head himself, he had hated coming to terms with the fact that he had truly lost everyone.

 

And he hadn't. Even still, after they’d “won”, the burden and grief was heavy. Since losing Loki it felt as if entire buildings chained themselves to Thor’s feet. The deep-rooted sorrow, even with distraction, he was afraid would never leave him.

 

But now, he wasn't entirely alone.

 

The guardians had grown to be like family to Thor. Even Peter, some days, wasn't opposed to being within a few yards of him. They quite enjoyed his presence, and his stories about his childhood, living on Asgard. Stories about his mother and Loki, and even some about Jane.

 

Once, even mentioning any one of them stung like thorns on his tongue and only reminded him of his heartache. But he grew to look back on them with a great fondness. Yes there was pain, but he smiled at the amazing collection of memories his life has grown to be. Never forgetting the bad memories, but learning to live with them, accept that they too were a part of who he was.

 

The guardians gave him a home, but not only that, they _were_ his home.

 

And now was just a night like any other for Thor. He had gotten up from the small cot he slept on to get a drink. Alcohol never failed in helping him with his sleep troubles.

 

Though after downing a moderate sized bottle, he had an inkling that someone was awake. A faint light near the nose of the ship had showed before fading out, and a confused mutter was heard not long after.

 

“...hello? Quill, get some rest, and I promise first thing in the morning we can practice air hockey.” The lights were dim and the space was dark around him but he waited nonetheless for a response or at least movement. Before walking forward he looked back into the room with everyone’s beds, what he saw sparked a small panic in him.

 

_Everyone’s bed was full, except his._

 

He shimmied very slowly to where stormbreaker was leaning against the wall of the ship, easing it from the ground. Moving closer and closer to where he had heard commotion. He was weary, but continued on, pretending he hadn't realized a possible threat was on the ship, he'd hope to catch them off guard. Someone was here, someone he didn't know.

 

“I’m not sure what time it is but everyone is asleep, you should-”

 

Or so he thought.

 

•

  
  
For being the god of mischief, he hadn't done very well at hiding. Whoever heard him _knew_ where he was, and was coming towards him.

 

_I could try using the tesseract again, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the risk right now. Damn this..._

 

He didn't really see much other choices but to hope he’d best the person coming towards him. With a small flick of his wrist a blunted dagger appeared in his hand. The footsteps chimed in his ears, and he noticed the strange pace they walked at, how familiar it sounded.

 

He stood the slightest from crouching, and peeked his head out from one of the chairs. He made out a faint figure of a man that stood at 6’ 3”, who had one of the most scratchy baritone voices he’s heard.

 

“I’m not sure what time it is but everyone is asleep, you should-”

 

By gods… it was Thor.

 

The second he saw Loki’s face, he looked unnerved, like what he was seeing had terrified the living crap out of him.

 

“Thor?...”

 

He studied his brother, seeing how truly unkind time had been to him. He always knew that with age Thor would look different. But the person standing before him looked like be had been chewed up and spit back out by Surtur himself. His hair was long, as it had always been, but it was matted, unkept. Usually shiny and golden, now an ashy light brown, the only blonde visible by bright sunlight. What used to be light stubble, was a braided beard going near past his shoulders, and his face was course and covered in scars. Not even mentioning how stout his brother became, though it wasn't too noticeable under the layers of wraps and over-sized Midgardian clothing he was wearing.

 

He would have resembled Odin if he hadn't look so incredibly _defeated_.

 

The axe Thor was holding fell from his hand, thumping onto the floor.

 

Loki had seen his brother upset many times in the past, but it was nothing like this. He had never seen his brother’s face as if his soul had been torn in pieces from his body. _Never_ had he seen Thor’s face so pained.

 

“Thor, it’s me. I saw you mere seconds ago, what in Hel’s name happened?”

 

All Thor did was scrunch his face together and scuff towards Loki, shaking his head “no” continuously. When he was a few feet from him, he saw Thor’s eyes water, reaching a bandaged hand to Loki, but suddenly stopped, freezing. Like he thought Loki would vanish under his hand, or phase straight through. Like Thor was afraid to touch him.

 

_What. **Happened.**_

 

He knew this type of reaction from Thor couldn't just appear out of thin air, even if it _had_ been years. This? Loki _knew_ this was someone's fault. Not his, and _certainly_ not his brother's. 

 

“Thor…” he spoke delicately and inched towards him. “Thor it’s alright.. I’m here, brother.”

 

Lights from above the control panel reflected off his face, Thor was crying, and the tears didn't seem to stop. He fell to his knees like he’d been injured, trying to quiet a choked sob as he cried into Loki’s chest, shaking, gripping onto his clothes. 

 

He wasn't sure how long he had held Thor for, it seemed like ages, but his brother had completely fallen apart in front of him, so he was in no position to care, even _Loki_ knew it was not his place to do so much as think to complain with his brother like this. 

 

A long while had passed, hours maybe, and Thor has fallen asleep with his head in Loki's lap, quietly snoring. Loki was leaning his back on one of the chairs that was fastened to the floor, patting Thor's head the softest way he knew how, the way their mother did, having completely discarded his need to escape and hurry to somewhere he knew he'd be safe. Because even though he could just leave, disappear within seconds, all he was _truly_ capable of was woefully examining the details in Thor's tired face.

 

"Brother... who did this to you..."


	2. Loki's in For Quite a Ride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's pretty short, but I wanted to update as soon as I can, and getting this part out as a seperate chapter better helps the flow of this work, so enjoy!

Thor was still sleeping when morning came, as was Loki. Not much had changed, except instead of leaning on the chair, Loki was laying with his back straight on the floor, and his brother was bundled and curled in thick wool blankets, resting his head on Loki’s stomach. 

 

The hum of the fluorescent lights in the ceiling, and their steady, dim glow eased Loki awake. He blinked and rubbed his face with the heels of his hands, trying to get his eyes to adjust. 

 

He was about to sit up when he became aware of a weight on his stomach, and arching his neck forward he saw Thor was snoring away. He’d seen him so broken last night, but now he was bearing that dopey grin that always warmed Loki’s gut. 

 

“Thor,” he whispered. He tried to wake him a second time but he must have been  _ quite _ tired to sleep this heavily. Loki eased his way out from under Thor, making sure his brother’s head didn't knock against the floor once he moved. Thor was unphased and simply rolled over to his back.

 

Loki sighed, he tried picking up his cocooned brother but alas, the blankets and Thor’s newfound grief-induced weight gain proved difficult.

 

“I swear if it weren't for being a frost giant my arms would snap right off my shoulders..”

 

He managed though, and carried his brother through the ship, looking for a room with a bed or at least a soft surface to put him on that  _ wasn't  _ on the floor.

  
  


 

•

 

 

Rocket was the first one up, and woke the others when he noticed Thor wasn't in bed,  _ again. _

 

“Guys, where’s Thor?”

 

Everyone unwillingly rose to Rocket’s abrupt call for urgency. Yawning, stretching in unison.

 

“I am  _ groot _ ,” Groot sleepily shrugged.

 

“Oh man.. you don't think he had the whiskey again, do you? We agreed he’d wean himself off with Coors Light. He damn near promised all’ve us.” Rocket huffed, he was annoyed but there was obvious concern for Thor in his voice. 

 

“He probably just fell asleep in the kitchen. You're so  _ worried _ about him then why don't you go look yourself?” Quill spoke with his voice muffled from the pillow over his head. “Just keep me out of it. It's too early for this, man.”

 

“ _ Fine,  _ fine. Just get up already, you prima donna.” He threw his pillow at Quill’s back and scuffed over to the door where he saw a skinny, pale figure,  _ probably human _ , he thought. Bearing short ear-length black hair, which looked like it'd been drowning in the universe’s largest mixture of hair gel and fry oil… and was carrying a hoard of blankets walking steadily, making his way down the hall. 

 

“Uh… guys,” Rocket spoke hushly. “We got company, so wake the hell up.” He glanced back to everyone now sitting up, and scurried closer to the doorframe.

 

“Wait a minute… he looks kinda familiar..”

 

Only when the stranger stopped walking did he realize he wasn't as inconspicuous as he’d hoped. There was a long silence.

 

He didn't turn to face Rocket, only looked forward as he spoke.

 

“I’m not here to hurt any of you.”

 

Rocket was suspicious.

 

“Whatcha got there? Who are you? How’d you even get-”

 

“-my name is Loki, of Asgard… Surely my brother has spoken of me, all good I hope.” Loki prayed his silver tongue would help this be less of a headache than he was anticipating.

 

“Yeah.. Hey wait a minute- I  _ know you _ , you're supposed to be dead. You  _ are  _ dead.” 

 

Loki froze, his skin growing cold. That same sinking feeling spreading through him, that same lump in his throat, his lungs were filling with cement and he couldn't breathe.

 

“ _ What.?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep your eyes out for updates, there's more to come, lovelies.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm definitely going to post at least another chapter of this, so if you enjoyed how it's coming along, stay tuned and keep your eyes out for updates!!


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